A Whole New Life!
by Rainbow-Monkey-1993
Summary: What if Peter WASN'T secret keeper and Dumbledore was instead? What if Harry's parents didn't die? Read and find out!
1. The owl and the visitors

**A Whole New Life

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**Authors Notes: Right, I hope you like this story! I'm not sure if I'll keep the name yet so if you have any ideas, any at all, please let me know as I need your help! Oh yeah, and please review! 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that J.K. Rowling invented (obviously!). The characters that you recognise are also hers. But.I may make some of my own in chapters to come!!

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**Chapter 1- The Owls And The Visitors.**

The waning moon watched knowingly in the dark cloudy sky. A gust of wind blew several autumn leaves nonchalantly down the paved road to join the others in a muddled heap. A piercing screech sliced through the silence of the night as a tawny owl hooted to make certain persons aware of its presence.

Nearby the hoot was heard through the ajar window of Godrics Hollow. The owners, Lily and James Potter, had been anticipating this feathered friend and on hearing this sound, pushed the window further open. As if personally welcomed the owl swooped inside and perched on James' armchair. James grinned.

"Trust Albus, even his letters are punctual," he laughed.

His wife Lily smirked and her sparkling green eyes shone. She was sat on the three-seater leather sofa directly opposite James, cradling their one-year-old son, Harry, in her arms. Harry was at the present moment in the land of dreams. Both his parents hoped he would stay that way for a while, as he was always a nascence to get to sleep.

"So what did Albus have to say?" Lily quizzed.

James, who had only just finished the letter, passed it over to her. She read it with alarming speed – she wasn't called the smartest which of her age for nothing. The note read:

_My dearest Lily, James and of course young Harry,_

_Let me first wish you all a very happy Halloween. The reason that I am writing to you on this fine afternoon is that I am afraid that I have a little bad news. If it is convenient to you, I will pop in a little later on tonight to explain. Try not to worry._

_Yours as ever, Albus._

Lily put the letter down on the coffee table in front of her, hand trembling. She looked James in the eyes and saw fear blazing across his.

" What do you think it could be?" her voice wavered.

James shook his head as though to get rid of invisible pesky flies.

"No idea. But if it was anything to seriously get, like totally anxious about, he would have came straight away."

Lily nodded and slowly started to gain control of herself. Leaning forwards she kissed baby Harry gently on the forehead and smiled as he gurgled nonsense in his sleep.

_KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK._

The loud rapping sound echoed through the living room. James jumped up and hurried into the hall to answer it. He opened the front door halfway and two men slid into the darkened hall.

"Hiya Sirius, Remus.Little early aren't you? I thought we said seven?" James asked.

"This is seven you nut!" Sirius chuckled ruffling James' hair.

Remus just grinned and headed to the living room to claim Harry before anyone else could. He quickly opened the door, ran inside and to his dismay, found a _sleeping_ Harry on Lily's knee.

"Awwww,"he sighed. " I wanted to play with him!" Sticking his bottom lip out, he glanced hopefully at Lily, just as Sirius and James came in. Lily surrendered and handed Harry over gently. Remus sat down on a sofa and gave Harry a soft shake.

"Harry, Harry, wake up, I wonna play!" he called.

Harry stirred.

"Harry!"

"Shut it!" Harry mumbled sleepily, his eyes firmly shut.

"Wake up, I wonna play with you!"

At the word 'play' Harry opened his eyes and happily yelled "Mooy!" before drawing the man into a hug!

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A/N: So did you like it? Hate it? Because I need to know! Just clickthat little blue/purple button and review! You know you want to! Next chapter is written and will be up soon! 


	2. Magic in the air

**Authors note: I've finally got this chapter typed! Sorry I took so long to update!**

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Chapter 2- Magic in the air

Lily Potter rubbed her sleepy eyes and sighed. It was 9pm and Harry _**still** _wasn't in bed yet. But no, she did not blame her precious baby boy, oh no, she blamed her precious _**big**_ boy and his friends who insisted that Harry stay awake so that they could play with him.

'_BEEP BEEP'_ screeched the fireplace, warning the family that somebody was about to arrive via the floo network. Looking up from her magazine, lily saw Albus Dumbledore elegantly step out of the fireplace and into her currently messy living room. Jumping up with a hand to her mouth Lily gasped in realisation.

"I'd forgot you were coming tonight Albus. Excuse the mess. It was tidy in here before a certain group of three decided to corrupt my baby and let him get all of his toys out at once."

The three men looked innocently at the chuckling Albus. Shifting into a comfier position on the rug, Sirius looked up at Lily with an offended glance before turning to Dumbledore.

"Who do you trust headmaster? The fiery redhead – also known as James' wife- or us?" Sirius feigned anger before totally cracking up and rolling around with laughter. Lily tutted at him and looked at James for back up.

"Come on Harry," he said as he scooped the infant up and into his strong arms. All of the adults (apart from Sirius) returned to the sofas. James and Lily shared one with Harry, supported by a cushion between them. When Harry saw Dumbledore a wide grin spread across his young face.

"Gan-da," he cried happily.

Sirius burst out laughing whilst Remus bit his lip to avoid doing so.

"Albus, I can never make out if he's calling you Gandolf from Lord of the Rings or granddad!" James muttered.

"Me too!" both Sirius and Remus answered as Albus smiled.

Harry however, was not at all amused and scowled.

"What's up sweety?" Lily asked him.

"Them" Harry replied.

Turning to the three men he was referring to, he sighed. " Pong, Pafut, Mooy, suttit now. Gan-da wonna talk!"

This rant sent the three yet again into hysterics.

"Pong?" James screeched. " Lily he's bullying me, tell him to stop. He's turning into you already!" he moaned.

Lily picked Harry up and hugged him.

"Good boy Harry, put those three in their place!" she praised. Harry nodded eagerly then slipped off the sofa and back on to his play mat.

Sitting more comfortably now, Albus turned serious. " Right, now getting to the more serious stuff. I see Peter isn't here tonight?"

"No, he said he had a meeting with his boss."

"Ahh, so he has but not with Mr Grayson."

"Not?"

"Not. Severus informed me this afternoon that Peter has joined Voldermort's ranks and is due to be branded tonight."

Silence filled the room.

"Are you sure?" James asked quietly.

"One hundred percent sure", Albus confirmed.

Sirius sighed loudly. They all knew that Peter had been the weakest member of their group but they had never, ever thought that he would turn to the dark side. Dumbledore started speaking again.

"At least we know that he cannot disclose your location as he is not the secret keeper- I am. You are safe for the time being at least."

Lily slowly closed her eyes and then suddenly gasped.

"Harry's never liked Peter," she said, her hands running agitatedly through her long red hair. "It's almost as if he could sense something about him that he shouldn't trust."

Remus nodded. "That's true, very true in fact. For months now, Harry's been totally miserable when Peter was here."

"It does make sense," confirmed James. "Harry seems to be able to sense who he can trust and who he can't."

Everyone turned to look at Harry who had fallen asleep on his play mat cuddling his toy stag.

"What does this mean?" Lily asked in a concerned tone.

"Well, I think his magic is maturing a lot sooner than usual. You'll have to keep a close eye on him to check whether he shows any other magical signs."

James got off the sofa and bent down to pick up his baby raven-haired son. "I'll put him to bed," he whispered, extremely careful not to wake him.

Lily turned to Dumbledore when James left the room, anxious about the welfare of her precious baby. "What do you think?" she quizzed. And knowing his vague answers only too well she added " And answer honestly!"

Albus sighed, his twinkling blue eyes gazing at the young woman in front of him. "I'm really not sure. If I were to have a hazardous guess though, I'd presume that this is an indicator that one day, Harry will be extremely powerful." He smiled at the shocked faces in front of him.

Sirius groaned and twisted around on the rug so that he could see Lily better. "Tut, tut" he reprimanded. "It's all your fault Lily flower! You had to pass the brains on to our junior marauder didn't you? Do you know what this means?" he quizzed.

Lily shook her head, a smile gracing her soft pink lips as she almost knew what Sirius was about to say, but decided not to spoil his fun.

"It means that unwillingly you have helped to create a new marauder, not only skilled in the arts of pranks, oh no, he'll have the brains to do even more than we mere mortals could ever dream of! Watch out Hogwarts because when this little champion is old enough to attend, he'll mean war!"

Lily rolled her eyes and Remus, Sirius and Albus laughed loudly. Several minutes passed before Sirius calmed down again and got up from his position on the floor to dive on to the sofa. Again Lily rolled her eyes at his antics but secretly she herself found Sirius fun to be around and a very close friend. Plus he was an excellent godfather to Harry!

"Sirius, will you ever grow up?" Remus asked with mock sincerity

Thinking for several moments before finding a suitable retort, Sirius replied. " Well you know me Moony, I'm a happy-go-lucky type. I'm sort of like a dog that has got a bone if you excuse that humungous pun!" His laugh sounded quite dog-like and even his blue/grey eyes reminded you of those of a puppy.

Lily glanced anxiously at the clock. James had been over twenty minutes now and she was worried what he was up to. She shook her head (although not as theatrically a Sirius had done) and got up from her comfortable position on the couch. Just as she did, and left the room, Remus grinned in humorous anticipation, wondering what his friend upstairs was up to. As silence set in between the three men, a piercing scream, clearly Lily's pierced the night air. Disturbed and worried the three men swiftly drew their wands and hastily ran upstairs.

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**Please reviw and let me know what you think!**


	3. Shock, humour and exits

**Authors note:** I finally have a new chapter up! yey! Sorry it has taken so long to update but I've been busy revising fr my GCSE's ,which are thankfully now over ,so I will be able to update more often from now on :)

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** Chapter 3**

Lily left the living room, closing the door quietly behind herself. She knew James only too well to realise that he was surely causing some sort of mayhem upstairs whilst attempting to alter the morals of their child and change him into a fellow trouble causer. Naturally, as Harry's mother, she knew from experience that it did not take long to prepare the young child for bed when he was in such a sluggish and drowsy state and this further fed her suspicions.

Wanting to catch James unaware she did turn on the light as she snuck along the hallway and carefully manoeuvred around the pushchair parked beside the banister. With the grace of a feline she crept up the carpeted stairs and was thankful that they muffled any sound she made as ascending. Reaching the top she paused for a moment in an attempt to hear what ruckus awaited her.

She was met with silence.

After waiting a moment longer curiosity got the better of her and she clasped the door handle of Harry's nursery in a slender hand before pushing it open and screaming at the sight that met her.

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Downstairs the three men heard the scream and looked at each other for a split second in alarm and fear before immediately jumping up from the sofas they inhabited and heading for the door. Taking out their wands and preparing for a possible fight with Death Eaters they vaulted the stairs four at a time. Sirius was in front of the trio and he turned to the others to ensure that they entered the room together.

"On three," Albus mouthed, his eyes clearly displaying the turmoil of emotions he was currently experiencing.

"One, two…" Remus began.

"THREE!" they all yelled before Sirius momentarily kicked the nursery door open with a BANG.

They all entered, wands ready to duel to the death if needed. The love and worry they felt for their mutual friends powered them along with the adrenaline currently pumping through their veins.

However, the sight that met their eyes was not _quite _what they had actually expected. Lily and James, both unharmed, were stood in the centre of the room in front of the cot. James looked sheepish and could hardly meet Lily's eyes as she glared at him, arms folded across her chest. She was clearly furious.

As the trio of 'rescuers' had chaotically entered the room their gazes had left each other before looking in shock at the three- posed and ready to fight. Sirius gazed around the room, dropping his wand arm from its' raised position as he realised there were no Death Eaters (or any other form of threat) in the room.

"Lily, James, what has happened?" Albus questioned whilst stowing his wand back into a pocket on his lilac robes.

"We heard you scream," Remus added when nobody answered, hoping to prompt an explanation.

Scowling at James again, Lily stepped backwards so the three could see inside of Harry's cot.

"Hell," Sirius muttered as he peered inside.

There, sat upright was Harry. He was wearing a white pair of teddy bear pyjamas which had chocolate liberally smeared down the front. Looking up from the slurpy treat held tightly in his chubby grip Harry smiled at the five adults with a chocalately sticky face and wild hyperactive green eyes caused by the major sugar overload.

"Mars bar, mars bar, marsy marsy mars bar!" Harry sang as he threw several mars wrappers into the air in delight.

"I admit, it was a mistake," James mumbled to his furious wife.

"A mistake?" Lily raged. "A mistake? Oh right, so you accidentally gave him six full-sized mars bars did you?"

"No but, but, but…" James attempted to find a suitable explanation but couldn't and instead settled on the truth. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Look at him!" Lily shrieked.

Harry was at that time attempting to do a handstand against the bars of his cot and was covering his crème bedding and lemon cot bars in chocolate in the meantime.

"I realise now that it wasn't quite such a magnificent idea." James admitted in a truly defeated tone.

Sirius could no longer maintain a straight face and sniggered, trying to hide it behind his hand. Lily swirled around to face him and glowered.

"Oh look at the time!" Remus exclaimed dramatically. "We really must be going Sirius." As he dragged Sirius out of the room before he put his foot in his mouth again he called "Thanks for having us – good look Prongs!"

Realising that he would soon be left alone with the bickering pair, Dumbledore also made his excuses. "Yes, I really must get back to Hogwarts. Wait up Remus! ," before quickly following the departing pair.

The wooden door slammed close as Albus left and, previously weakened by Sirius' kick, it fell off its' hinges and ended up on the floor with a BOOM!

Using James' distraction to her advantage, Lily muttered "Alfinenzo," as she pointed her wand at him. The jinx took immediate action and James' hair turned a shocking shade of pink. Before he could even contemplate retaliating (not that h would- he knew he was clearly in the wrong) she flicked her wand again and a tattooed word appeared in black across his forehead. As Lily darted from the room smirking – careful to avoid the door- and shouting that he should now clean up Harry's room etc. James peered in the small mirror in the lion patterned frame above the chest of drawers. With shock he saw his reflection with the shocking hair along with the word 'IDIOT' emblazed across his forehead.

"Great, just great!" he grimaced, thinking of the reaction and teasing he would gain from Sirius and Remus the following day.

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**Authors note:** Please review and tell me what you think!


	4. Realizations

**Authors note: **Thanks for your reviews :)

I'm still not too sure if I actually like this chater, so please tell me what you think. Now that my exams are over, I'm going to have much more time to update and so thankfully the chapters will be more regularly posted and you won't have to wait as long. I'm sorry it's not very long but I will eventually get better ! Here it is anyhow:

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**Chapter 4**

The morning sunlight shone through the partially opened curtain and on to the currently dishevelled and awakening figure of James. After rolling on to his back and untwisting the tangled quilt from beneath himself he sat up slowly and put on his glasses, which were located on the small table beside him. With a groan he then rotated his neck several times in order to try to remove the cramp that resided there. Kicking off the cover entirely and climbing to his feet, James winced at the aching pains he could already feel in his back. He had now decided that sleeping on the sofa was definitely not as fun as it sounded!

He bent down to pick up the blue quilt and red pillow he had been using that night and quickly stuffed them back in the wooden cupboard in the hallway- hurriedly closing the door again to ensure they did not fall out again.

It had taken over three hours and a calming drought to entirely settle Harry down again after the 'sugar incident' and even then Lily had blatantly refused to allow him to sleep in their bedroom afterwards! He realised he'd done wrong- again- but clearly this wasn't enough for her and she believed he deserved to be further punished for his actions.

Throughout the night he had had little sleep, tossing and turning and watching the clock as the hours passed by. With time on his hands he had also created an ingeniously spectacular (or so he thought) plan in order to win back Lily's affection.

As Sirius had informed him on a regular basis, food was the key to a woman's heart and so he planned to cook Lily a delicious breakfast and then apologise profusely – on his hands and knees if he had to! With a smile at the plan he was so sure could not possibly fail him; he ruffled his pink bed-hair and headed to the kitchen.

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Twenty minutes later and a pyjama clad James was standing outside his and Lily's bedroom door balancing a tray precariously in one hand. The more-than-slightly burnt toast and yellow runny mess he had the nerve to call scrambled eggs had been placed quite artistically onto a flowery dinner plate and a champagne flute filled to the brim with fresh orange juice stood next to it with a napkin and the cutlery.

James knocked on the door twice before opening it and grinning at the prospect of being forgiven and freed from the jinxes inflicted upon him (after many fruitless attempts he had given trying to remove them himself). As he steadily entered the bedroom, careful not to wobble the tray he carried, his grin faded…and faded…and faded until it was finally wiped from his face.

"Damn!" he cursed as he spotted the pristine room and found it… well, empty!

A piece of folded parchment lay at the foot of the bed with his name wrote in purple ink along the top. After placing the breakfast tray on the cabinet top he unfolded the note with haste and read it.

'James' it said

'Harry and I…'

"Damn!" he thought, "She's took him too! What am I going to do all day?" With a pet lip he continued to read on in a sulk.

'are at Martha's house. We will be back tonight. Keep the house tidy. Do not come to find or collect us- if you value your dignity and do not want to be jinxed again.

Lily.'

To anyone else the note would sound quite pleasant- apart from the small matter of the threat of course- but James knew by the abrupt and unfeeling sentences and by the short length of the note that he was still in deep trouble with her.

Musing what to do next he sat down on the double bed, creasing its' perfectly straightened crème sheets in the process, and began to eat the breakfast he had so lovingly prepared. A mouthful or two later, James admitted defeat and banished the abysmally cooked food with practised flick of his wand.

"Maybe I'm not such a wonderful cook after all," he acknowledged with a slight chuckle as the realisation finally dawned.

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**Authors Note:** Please review! You know the reviews really do help me to update quicker, I need to know what you think of the story so far. I hope to get the new chapter typed and uploaded in the next week :)


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